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Babel (2006 film)
Encyclopedia
Babel is a 2006 international drama film
directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
and written by Guillermo Arriaga
, starring an ensemble cast
. The multi-narrative drama completes Iñárritu's Death Trilogy, following Amores perros
and 21 Grams
.
The film portrays multiple stories taking place in Morocco, Japan, Mexico and the United States. It was an international co-production
among companies based in France, Mexico and the US. The film was first screened at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
, and was later shown at the Toronto International Film Festival
and the Zagreb Film Festival
. It opened in selected cities in the United States on October 27, 2006, and went into wide release on November 10, 2006. On January 15, 2007, it won the Golden Globe Award
for Best Motion Picture — Drama. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture
, Best Director
, and two nominations for Best Supporting Actress
and won for Best Original Score.
, Abdullah, a goatherder, buys a high-powered .270 Winchester
M70 rifle
and a box of ammunition from his neighbor Hassan Ibrahim to shoot the jackals that have been preying on his goats. Abdullah gives the rifle to his two young sons, Yussef and Ahmed (played by local non-professional actors Boubker Ait El Caid and Said Tarchini), and sends them out to tend the herd. The film has already established that there is a degree of competitiveness between the two brothers. The older is critical of the younger for spying on his sister while she changes her clothes (the film shows that she is aware of his presence). Competing between themselves and doubtful of the rifle's purported three-kilometer range, they decide to test it out, aiming first at rocks, a moving car on a highway below, and then at a bus carrying Western tourists on the same highway traveling in the opposite direction to the car. Yussef's bullet hits the bus, critically wounding Susan Jones (Cate Blanchett
), an American woman from San Diego who is traveling with her husband Richard Jones (Brad Pitt
) on vacation. The two boys realize what has happened and flee the scene, hiding the rifle in the hills that night.
Glimpses of television news programs reveal that the US government holds the shooting to be a terrorist act and is pressuring the Moroccan government to apprehend the culprits. Having traced the rifle back to Hassan, the Moroccan police descend quickly on his house and roughly question him and his wife until they reveal that the rifle was given to him by a Japanese man, and then sold to Abdullah. The two boys see the police on the road and confess to their father what they have done. (They believe at the time that the American woman has died of her wounds.) The three flee from their house, retrieving the rifle as they go. The police corner them on the rocky slope of a hill and open fire. After his brother is hit in the leg, Yussef returns fire, striking one police officer in the shoulder. The police continue shooting, eventually hitting Ahmed in the back, possibly fatally injuring him. As his father rages with grief, Yussef eventually surrenders and confesses to all the crimes, begging clemency for his family and medical assistance for his brother. The police take him into custody. The family's fate is unresolved.
The movie's first plot is interspersed with scenes of Richard and Susan. They came on vacation in Morocco to get away from things and mend their own marital woes. The death of their infant third child to SIDS
has strained their marriage significantly as they struggle to communicate their frustration, guilt, and blame. When Susan is shot on the tour bus, Richard orders the bus driver to the nearest village with a doctor (the village is named Tazarine in the film). There a local veterinarian
sews up the wound to stem the loss of blood. The other tourists wait for some time, but they eventually demand to leave, fearing the heat and worried that they may be the target of further attacks. Since Susan cannot travel by bus in her condition, Richard threatens the tour group to wait for the ambulance, which never arrives, and eventually the bus leaves without them while Richard is on the phone. The couple remains behind with the bus's tour guide, Anwar, still waiting for transport to a hospital (having contacted the US embassy using the village's only phone). Political issues between the US and Morocco prevent quick help, but a helicopter comes at last. After five days in the hospital, Susan recovers and is sent home.
), a rebellious, deaf Japanese teenage girl, traumatized by the recent suicide of her mother. She is bitter towards her father, Yasujiro Wataya (Kōji Yakusho) and boys her age, and is sexually frustrated. She starts exhibiting sexually provocative behavior, partly in response to dismissive comments from a member of her volleyball team. While out with friends, Chieko finds a teenage boy attractive, and following an unsuccessful attempt at socialising, takes off her panties and exposes herself in an act combining flirtation and contempt. She then goes home, where a friend visits her. Lifting her skirt quickly, she shows her friend that she is still without underwear. They go out together. Chieko eventually encounters two police detectives who question her about her father. She finds one of the detectives, Kenji Mamiya (Satoshi Nikaido), attractive. She invites Mamiya back to the apartment she shares with her father. Wrongly supposing that the detectives are investigating her father's involvement in her mother's suicide, she explains to Mamiya that her father was asleep when her mother jumped off the balcony and that she witnessed this herself. It turns out the detectives are, in fact, investigating a hunting trip Yasujiro took in Morocco. Yasujiro is an avid hunter and during a trip in Morocco he gave his rifle, as a gift, to his very skilled hunting guide, Hassan, who at the beginning of the film sold the rifle to Abdullah.
Soon after learning this, Chieko reveals her real motive in inviting Mamiya to her home. She approaches him nude and attempts to seduce him. He resists her approaches but comforts her as she bursts into tears. Before he leaves, Chieko writes him a note, indicating that she does not want him to read it until he is gone. Leaving, the detective crosses paths with Yasujiro and explains the situation with the rifle. Yasujiro replies that he did indeed give it as a gift, there was no black market involvement. About to depart, Mamiya offers condolences for the wife's suicide. Yasujiro, though, is confused by the mention of a balcony and angrily replies that "My wife shot herself in the head. Chieko was the first to find the body. I've explained this to the police many times." Chieko is leaning on the balcony (still nude) when her father enters the apartment. After leaving, the detective stops at a bar to read Chieko's note. Within the film, the note's contents are never revealed.
) tends their twin children in their California home while they are in Morocco. When Richard and Susan are detained because of Susan's injury, Amelia is forced to take care of the children longer than planned and becomes worried that she will miss her son's wedding. Unable to secure any other help to care for them, she decides to take them with her to the wedding in a rural community near Tijuana
, Mexico, rather than miss it. Her nephew Santiago (Gael García Bernal
) offers to take her and the twins to the wedding. They cross the border uneventfully and the children are soon confronted by the Mexican culture and street scene. The revelry of the wedding extends well into the evening, but rather than staying the night in Mexico with the children, Amelia decides to drive back to the States with Santiago. He has been drinking heavily and the border guards become suspicious of his behavior. Amelia has passports for all four travelers, but no letter of consent from the children's parents allowing her to take them out of the United States. Intoxicated, Santiago trespasses the border. He soon abandons Amelia and the children in the desert, attempting to lead off the police (his final fate is not revealed). Stranded without food and water, Amelia and the children are forced to spend the night in the desert. Realizing that they will all die if she cannot get help, Amelia leaves the children behind to find someone, ordering them not to move. She eventually finds a U.S. Border Patrol officer. After placing Amelia under arrest, she and the officer travel back to where she had left the children, but they are not there. Amelia is taken back to a Border Patrol station, where she is eventually informed that the children have been found and that their father, Richard, while very furious and outraged, has agreed not to press charges. However, she must be deported from the US where she has been working illegally. Her protests that she had been in the US for 16 years and has looked after the children (whom she refers to as "her children") for the duration of their lives do not secure lenient treatment. Near the end of the movie, the audience sees her meeting her son on the Mexican side of the Tijuana
crossing, still in the red dress she wore for the wedding, now torn and dirty from her night in the desert.
At the end of the movie, a phone conversation between Amelia and Richard is repeated from Richard's end of the phone. This is the original phone call at the beginning of Amelia's story. In this conversation it can be heard that he is allowing Amelia to go to her son's wedding because Susan's sister will be able to watch the twins. It is not until the next morning on another phone call they learn that Susan's sister cannot take care of them and thus Amelia is forced to take the children with her.
Mexico/United States
Japan
, which changed its name from Paramount Classics, with Babel as its premiere production and inaugural motion picture.
Actress Adriana Barraza
, who plays the role of Amelia, is a two-time survivor of minor heart attacks. She nonetheless carried co-actress Elle Fanning
around in the hot desert of Southern California during the summer for two days during filming of those particular desert scenes. The whole of the desert scenes were said to have taken five days to shoot.
Filming locations
. Arriaga argued that cinema is a collaborative medium, and that both he and González Iñárritu are thus the authors of the films they have worked on together. González Iñárritu claimed sole credit as the auteur of those same films, minimizing Arriaga's contribution to the pictures. As a result of this controversy, González Iñárritu banned Arriaga from attending the 2006 Cannes Film Festival screening of Babel, an act for which the director was very severely criticized.
dancing in a club with flashing strobe lights. Since the incident, theaters nationwide posted notices saying that Babel contains scenes with strong effects and that some viewers felt sick after seeing them.
and songs were composed and produced by Gustavo Santaolalla
.
The soundtrack album won the Academy Award for Best Original Score
and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. It was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
(lost to the score of The Painted Veil).
The closing scene of the film features Ryuichi Sakamoto
's "Bibo no Aozora." Sakamoto has previously won the BAFTA, Golden Globe, Grammy, and Academy Award for his scores for Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, The Sheltering Sky
, and The Last Emperor
.
Compared to his other films, Babel has surpassed González Iñárritu's 21 Grams
for North American box office, as well as that film's $60 million worldwide box office gross .
Box Office Mojo
commented on America's initially poor reception for Babel, when the film first expanded beyond targeted communities ("wide release"). "Babel didn't translate in wide release, grabbing $5.6 million at 1,251 locations." Box Office Mojo observed that America's interest in political morality play
s like Babel, Syriana
and Crash
has declined, despite the biggest box office stars.
As of March 6, 2007, with nearly $114 million box office gross worldwide, Babel had already outgrossed Crash, Syriana, The Constant Gardener and Magnolia. It has already earned more than four and a half times its estimated production budget of $25 million.
But according to Variety, this film didn't make money for Paramount Vantage.
by Paramount Home Entertainment in the United States and the United Kingdom. The only special feature was the theatrical trailer and various other movie previews. In July 2007, Paramount announced they were releasing the film as a two-disc special edition DVD in September 2007. The second disc contains a 90 minute 'making of'. Babel has also been released on the high-definition
formats, HD DVD
and Blu-ray Disc
.
On its first week of release on DVD in North America (February 19–25, 2007), Babel debuted #1 in DVD/Home Video Rentals. Total gross rentals for the week, were estimated at $8.73 million. In the first week of DVD sales,Babel sold 721,000 units, gathering revenue of $12,253,000. As of the latest figures, 1,795,000 units have been sold, translating to 1,795,000 in revenue.
gave the film a score of 69 (out of 100) based on the reviews of 38 critics.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene...
and written by Guillermo Arriaga
Guillermo Arriaga
Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of...
, starring an ensemble cast
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
. The multi-narrative drama completes Iñárritu's Death Trilogy, following Amores perros
Amores perros
Amores perros is a 2000 neorealist Mexican film, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Amores Perros is the first movie in Iñárritu's trilogy of death, and was followed by 21 Grams and Babel. It is a triptych; an anthology film, sometimes referred to as the "Mexican Pulp Fiction," containing...
and 21 Grams
21 Grams
21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, and Benicio del Toro....
.
The film portrays multiple stories taking place in Morocco, Japan, Mexico and the United States. It was an international co-production
International co-production
An international co-production is a production where two or more different production companies are working together, for example in a film production...
among companies based in France, Mexico and the US. The film was first screened at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
, and was later shown at the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
and the Zagreb Film Festival
Zagreb Film Festival
Zagreb Film Festival is an annual film festival established in 2003 and held in Zagreb, Croatia.The festival features three separate international competition programs , and one competition program for short films made by Croatian authors...
. It opened in selected cities in the United States on October 27, 2006, and went into wide release on November 10, 2006. On January 15, 2007, it won the Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for Best Motion Picture — Drama. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
, Best Director
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
, and two nominations for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
and won for Best Original Score.
Plot
Babel focuses on four interrelated sets of situations and characters, and many events are revealed out of sequence. The following plot summary has been simplified, and thus does not reflect the exact sequence of the events on screen.Morocco
In a remote desert location in southern MoroccoMorocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Abdullah, a goatherder, buys a high-powered .270 Winchester
.270 Winchester
The .270 Winchester was developed by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1923 and unveiled in 1925 as a chambering for their bolt-action Model 54. The cartridge is based upon the .30-06 Springfield...
M70 rifle
Winchester Model 70
The Winchester Model 70 is a bolt action sporting rifle. It has an iconic place in American sporting culture and has been held in high regard by shooters since it was introduced in 1936, earning the moniker "The Rifleman's Rifle". The action has some design similarities to Mauser designs and it is...
and a box of ammunition from his neighbor Hassan Ibrahim to shoot the jackals that have been preying on his goats. Abdullah gives the rifle to his two young sons, Yussef and Ahmed (played by local non-professional actors Boubker Ait El Caid and Said Tarchini), and sends them out to tend the herd. The film has already established that there is a degree of competitiveness between the two brothers. The older is critical of the younger for spying on his sister while she changes her clothes (the film shows that she is aware of his presence). Competing between themselves and doubtful of the rifle's purported three-kilometer range, they decide to test it out, aiming first at rocks, a moving car on a highway below, and then at a bus carrying Western tourists on the same highway traveling in the opposite direction to the car. Yussef's bullet hits the bus, critically wounding Susan Jones (Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
), an American woman from San Diego who is traveling with her husband Richard Jones (Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
) on vacation. The two boys realize what has happened and flee the scene, hiding the rifle in the hills that night.
Glimpses of television news programs reveal that the US government holds the shooting to be a terrorist act and is pressuring the Moroccan government to apprehend the culprits. Having traced the rifle back to Hassan, the Moroccan police descend quickly on his house and roughly question him and his wife until they reveal that the rifle was given to him by a Japanese man, and then sold to Abdullah. The two boys see the police on the road and confess to their father what they have done. (They believe at the time that the American woman has died of her wounds.) The three flee from their house, retrieving the rifle as they go. The police corner them on the rocky slope of a hill and open fire. After his brother is hit in the leg, Yussef returns fire, striking one police officer in the shoulder. The police continue shooting, eventually hitting Ahmed in the back, possibly fatally injuring him. As his father rages with grief, Yussef eventually surrenders and confesses to all the crimes, begging clemency for his family and medical assistance for his brother. The police take him into custody. The family's fate is unresolved.
The movie's first plot is interspersed with scenes of Richard and Susan. They came on vacation in Morocco to get away from things and mend their own marital woes. The death of their infant third child to SIDS
Sudden infant death syndrome
Sudden infant death syndrome is marked by the sudden death of an infant that is unexpected by medical history, and remains unexplained after a thorough forensic autopsy and a detailed death scene investigation. An infant is at the highest risk for SIDS during sleep, which is why it is sometimes...
has strained their marriage significantly as they struggle to communicate their frustration, guilt, and blame. When Susan is shot on the tour bus, Richard orders the bus driver to the nearest village with a doctor (the village is named Tazarine in the film). There a local veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
sews up the wound to stem the loss of blood. The other tourists wait for some time, but they eventually demand to leave, fearing the heat and worried that they may be the target of further attacks. Since Susan cannot travel by bus in her condition, Richard threatens the tour group to wait for the ambulance, which never arrives, and eventually the bus leaves without them while Richard is on the phone. The couple remains behind with the bus's tour guide, Anwar, still waiting for transport to a hospital (having contacted the US embassy using the village's only phone). Political issues between the US and Morocco prevent quick help, but a helicopter comes at last. After five days in the hospital, Susan recovers and is sent home.
Japan
Simultaneously, the movie tells the story of Chieko Wataya (Rinko KikuchiRinko Kikuchi
, born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories...
), a rebellious, deaf Japanese teenage girl, traumatized by the recent suicide of her mother. She is bitter towards her father, Yasujiro Wataya (Kōji Yakusho) and boys her age, and is sexually frustrated. She starts exhibiting sexually provocative behavior, partly in response to dismissive comments from a member of her volleyball team. While out with friends, Chieko finds a teenage boy attractive, and following an unsuccessful attempt at socialising, takes off her panties and exposes herself in an act combining flirtation and contempt. She then goes home, where a friend visits her. Lifting her skirt quickly, she shows her friend that she is still without underwear. They go out together. Chieko eventually encounters two police detectives who question her about her father. She finds one of the detectives, Kenji Mamiya (Satoshi Nikaido), attractive. She invites Mamiya back to the apartment she shares with her father. Wrongly supposing that the detectives are investigating her father's involvement in her mother's suicide, she explains to Mamiya that her father was asleep when her mother jumped off the balcony and that she witnessed this herself. It turns out the detectives are, in fact, investigating a hunting trip Yasujiro took in Morocco. Yasujiro is an avid hunter and during a trip in Morocco he gave his rifle, as a gift, to his very skilled hunting guide, Hassan, who at the beginning of the film sold the rifle to Abdullah.
Soon after learning this, Chieko reveals her real motive in inviting Mamiya to her home. She approaches him nude and attempts to seduce him. He resists her approaches but comforts her as she bursts into tears. Before he leaves, Chieko writes him a note, indicating that she does not want him to read it until he is gone. Leaving, the detective crosses paths with Yasujiro and explains the situation with the rifle. Yasujiro replies that he did indeed give it as a gift, there was no black market involvement. About to depart, Mamiya offers condolences for the wife's suicide. Yasujiro, though, is confused by the mention of a balcony and angrily replies that "My wife shot herself in the head. Chieko was the first to find the body. I've explained this to the police many times." Chieko is leaning on the balcony (still nude) when her father enters the apartment. After leaving, the detective stops at a bar to read Chieko's note. Within the film, the note's contents are never revealed.
United States/Mexico
A third subplot takes place in the Americas where Richard and Susan's Mexican nanny, Amelia (Adriana BarrazaAdriana Barraza
Adriana Barraza is a Mexican film and television actress and director. She has also been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Broadcast Film Critics Association and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also a veteran actress of Televisa telenovelas...
) tends their twin children in their California home while they are in Morocco. When Richard and Susan are detained because of Susan's injury, Amelia is forced to take care of the children longer than planned and becomes worried that she will miss her son's wedding. Unable to secure any other help to care for them, she decides to take them with her to the wedding in a rural community near Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Mexico, rather than miss it. Her nephew Santiago (Gael García Bernal
Gael García Bernal
Gael García Bernal is a Mexican film actor and director.-Early life:García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Ángel García, an actor and director. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, whom his mother married when García Bernal was...
) offers to take her and the twins to the wedding. They cross the border uneventfully and the children are soon confronted by the Mexican culture and street scene. The revelry of the wedding extends well into the evening, but rather than staying the night in Mexico with the children, Amelia decides to drive back to the States with Santiago. He has been drinking heavily and the border guards become suspicious of his behavior. Amelia has passports for all four travelers, but no letter of consent from the children's parents allowing her to take them out of the United States. Intoxicated, Santiago trespasses the border. He soon abandons Amelia and the children in the desert, attempting to lead off the police (his final fate is not revealed). Stranded without food and water, Amelia and the children are forced to spend the night in the desert. Realizing that they will all die if she cannot get help, Amelia leaves the children behind to find someone, ordering them not to move. She eventually finds a U.S. Border Patrol officer. After placing Amelia under arrest, she and the officer travel back to where she had left the children, but they are not there. Amelia is taken back to a Border Patrol station, where she is eventually informed that the children have been found and that their father, Richard, while very furious and outraged, has agreed not to press charges. However, she must be deported from the US where she has been working illegally. Her protests that she had been in the US for 16 years and has looked after the children (whom she refers to as "her children") for the duration of their lives do not secure lenient treatment. Near the end of the movie, the audience sees her meeting her son on the Mexican side of the Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
crossing, still in the red dress she wore for the wedding, now torn and dirty from her night in the desert.
At the end of the movie, a phone conversation between Amelia and Richard is repeated from Richard's end of the phone. This is the original phone call at the beginning of Amelia's story. In this conversation it can be heard that he is allowing Amelia to go to her son's wedding because Susan's sister will be able to watch the twins. It is not until the next morning on another phone call they learn that Susan's sister cannot take care of them and thus Amelia is forced to take the children with her.
Themes
In each of the interlinked stories we see parents' relationships with their children, and courtships, weddings and married relationships. Within this there is also a clear investigation of human sexuality, with the activities of Chieko in Japan, but also the voyeuristic activity that secretly links Yussef and his sister (which parallels Chieko's self-exposure). There is also a pervading sense of the underlying violence or aggression that can be detected in each of the four societies (counting USA and Mexico separately). These parallels contribute to building a content/message of human connectivity, and the inherent incalculable causality of individual actions.Cast
Morocco- Brad PittBrad PittWilliam Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
as Richard Jones - Cate BlanchettCate BlanchettCatherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
as Susan Jones - Mohamed AkhzamMohamed AkhzamMohamed Akhzam is an actor who starred in the 2006 Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu film, Babel.-External links:...
as Anwar - Peter Wight as Tom
- Harriet WalterHarriet WalterDame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE is a British actress.-Personal life:She is the niece of renowned British actor Sir Christopher Lee, as the daughter of his elder sister Xandra Lee. On her father's side she is a great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The TimesShe was educated at...
as Lilly - Michael MaloneyMichael MaloneyMichael Maloney is an English actor.Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Maloney's first television appearance was as Peter Barkworth's teenage son in the 1979 drama series, Telford's Change....
as James - Driss RoukheDriss Roukhe-Early life:Driss Roukhe was born in a poor neighborhood in Meknes, he lost his father when he was 7. He practiced Theater in high-school and with various youth associations. He later joined the "Institut supérieur d’art dramatique et d’animation culturelle" where he was trained as an actor...
as Alarid - Boubker Ait El Caid as Yussef
- Said Tarchani as Ahmed
- Mustapha Rachidi as Abdullah
- Abdelkader Bara as Hassan
- Wahiba Sahmi as Zohra
- Robert FyfeRobert FyfeRobert Fyfe is a Scottish actor, who has appeared as Howard on the long-running British sitcom Last of the Summer Wine from 1985 to 2010....
as Tourist Number 14
Mexico/United States
- Adriana BarrazaAdriana BarrazaAdriana Barraza is a Mexican film and television actress and director. She has also been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Broadcast Film Critics Association and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also a veteran actress of Televisa telenovelas...
as Amelia - Gael García BernalGael García BernalGael García Bernal is a Mexican film actor and director.-Early life:García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Ángel García, an actor and director. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, whom his mother married when García Bernal was...
as Santiago - Elle FanningElle FanningMary Elle Fanning , credited as Elle Fanning, is an American actress. She is the younger sister of actress Dakota Fanning and mainly known for her starring roles in Phoebe in Wonderland, Somewhere, Super 8 and We Bought a Zoo which will receive a theatrical release on December 23,...
as Debbie Jones - Nathan GambleNathan GambleNathan Gamble is an American child actor who made his feature film debut in Babel , for which he was nominated for a 2007 Young Artist Award....
as Mike Jones - Clifton Collins Jr. as Police Officer at Mexican border.
- Michael PenaMichael PeñaMichael Anthony Peña is an American film and television actor. He is probably best known for his roles in the films Crash, World Trade Center, Observe and Report, 30 Minutes or Less and Tower Heist...
as Officer John
Japan
- Rinko KikuchiRinko Kikuchi, born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories...
as Chieko Wataya - Kōji Yakusho as Yasujiro Wataya
- Satoshi Nikaido as Detective Kenji Mamiya
- Yuko Murata as Mitsu
- Shigemitsu Ogi as Dentist Chieko attempts to seduce.
Production
Babels ultimate $25 million budget came from an array of different sources and investors anchored with Paramount VantageParamount Vantage
Paramount Vantage is the specialty film division of Paramount Pictures , charged with producing, purchasing, distributing and marketing films, generally those with a more "art house" feel than films made and distributed by its parent company.Paramount Classics was launched in 1998 and...
, which changed its name from Paramount Classics, with Babel as its premiere production and inaugural motion picture.
Actress Adriana Barraza
Adriana Barraza
Adriana Barraza is a Mexican film and television actress and director. She has also been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Broadcast Film Critics Association and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also a veteran actress of Televisa telenovelas...
, who plays the role of Amelia, is a two-time survivor of minor heart attacks. She nonetheless carried co-actress Elle Fanning
Elle Fanning
Mary Elle Fanning , credited as Elle Fanning, is an American actress. She is the younger sister of actress Dakota Fanning and mainly known for her starring roles in Phoebe in Wonderland, Somewhere, Super 8 and We Bought a Zoo which will receive a theatrical release on December 23,...
around in the hot desert of Southern California during the summer for two days during filming of those particular desert scenes. The whole of the desert scenes were said to have taken five days to shoot.
Filming locations
- IbarakiIbaraki, Ibarakiis a town located in Higashiibaraki District, Ibaraki, Japan.The town was set to merge with Mito, Ibaraki on December 8, 2007, but following the election of a new mayor in April 2007, these plans were abandoned....
, Japan - Shibuya, TokyoShibuya, Tokyois one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....
, Japan - Shinjuku, TokyoShinjuku, Tokyois one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population...
, Japan - El Carrizo, MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
- SonoraSonoraSonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
, Mexico - TijuanaTijuanaTijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Baja California, Mexico - OuarzazateOuarzazate-See also:* Tizi n'Tichka: The mountain pass that leads to Ouarzazate* List of Movies shot in Morocco-External links:* at IMDb...
, MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara... - Taguenzalt, Morocco – a Berber village in the foothills of the Atlas MountainsAtlas MountainsThe Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert...
, built into the rocky gorges of the DraaDraa RiverThe Draa is Morocco's longest river . It is formed by the confluence of the Dadès River and Imini River. It flows from the High Atlas mountains south-ward to Tagounit and from Tagounit mostly westwards to the Atlantic Ocean somewhat north of Tan-Tan...
Valley. - San DiegoSan Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, California, USA - San Ysidro, California, USA
- Drumheller, AlbertaDrumheller, AlbertaDrumheller is a town within the Red Deer River valley in the badlands of east-central Alberta, Canada. It is located northeast of Calgary...
, Canada
Authorship controversy
Following completion of principal photography on Babel, director Alejandro González Iñárritu and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga had a falling out. The dispute centered on the authorship of their previous film, 21 Grams21 Grams
21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, and Benicio del Toro....
. Arriaga argued that cinema is a collaborative medium, and that both he and González Iñárritu are thus the authors of the films they have worked on together. González Iñárritu claimed sole credit as the auteur of those same films, minimizing Arriaga's contribution to the pictures. As a result of this controversy, González Iñárritu banned Arriaga from attending the 2006 Cannes Film Festival screening of Babel, an act for which the director was very severely criticized.
Health hazard
It was reported that during the Japanese premiere of the movie, numerous people became sick after watching the scene involving Japanese actress Rinko KikuchiRinko Kikuchi
, born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories...
dancing in a club with flashing strobe lights. Since the incident, theaters nationwide posted notices saying that Babel contains scenes with strong effects and that some viewers felt sick after seeing them.
Music
The film's original scoreFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
and songs were composed and produced by Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:...
.
The soundtrack album won the Academy Award for Best Original Score
Academy Award for Best Original Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. It was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is one of several categories presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association , an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications outside North America, since its institution in 1947...
(lost to the score of The Painted Veil).
The closing scene of the film features Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto
After working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as...
's "Bibo no Aozora." Sakamoto has previously won the BAFTA, Golden Globe, Grammy, and Academy Award for his scores for Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, The Sheltering Sky
The Sheltering Sky (film)
The Sheltering Sky is a 1990 British-Italian drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci starring Debra Winger and John Malkovich. The film is based on the 1949 novel by Paul Bowles about a couple who journey to northern Africa in the hopes of rekindling their marriage but soon fall prey to the...
, and The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor is a 1987 biopic about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, whose autobiography was the basis for the screenplay written by Mark Peploe and Bernardo Bertolucci. Independently produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was directed by Bertolucci and released in 1987 by Columbia Pictures...
.
Box office performance
Released in seven theaters on October 27, 2006, and then released nationwide in 1,251 theaters on November 10, 2006, Babel has earned as of March 6, 2007, $34,302,937 in North America, and $101,027,166 in the rest of the world as of March 4, 2007, for a worldwide box office total of $135,330,003.Compared to his other films, Babel has surpassed González Iñárritu's 21 Grams
21 Grams
21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, and Benicio del Toro....
for North American box office, as well as that film's $60 million worldwide box office gross .
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...
commented on America's initially poor reception for Babel, when the film first expanded beyond targeted communities ("wide release"). "Babel didn't translate in wide release, grabbing $5.6 million at 1,251 locations." Box Office Mojo observed that America's interest in political morality play
Morality play
The morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes", a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral theme. Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of...
s like Babel, Syriana
Syriana
Syriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and executive produced by George Clooney, who also stars in the film with an ensemble cast. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil...
and Crash
Crash (2004 film)
Crash is a 2004 American drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles, California. A self-described "passion piece" for Haggis, Crash was inspired by a real life incident in which his Porsche was carjacked outside a video...
has declined, despite the biggest box office stars.
As of March 6, 2007, with nearly $114 million box office gross worldwide, Babel had already outgrossed Crash, Syriana, The Constant Gardener and Magnolia. It has already earned more than four and a half times its estimated production budget of $25 million.
But according to Variety, this film didn't make money for Paramount Vantage.
Home media
On February 20 and May 21, 2007, Babel was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
by Paramount Home Entertainment in the United States and the United Kingdom. The only special feature was the theatrical trailer and various other movie previews. In July 2007, Paramount announced they were releasing the film as a two-disc special edition DVD in September 2007. The second disc contains a 90 minute 'making of'. Babel has also been released on the high-definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
formats, HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
.
On its first week of release on DVD in North America (February 19–25, 2007), Babel debuted #1 in DVD/Home Video Rentals. Total gross rentals for the week, were estimated at $8.73 million. In the first week of DVD sales,Babel sold 721,000 units, gathering revenue of $12,253,000. As of the latest figures, 1,795,000 units have been sold, translating to 1,795,000 in revenue.
Accolades
| Award | Category | Recipient | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards 79th Academy Awards The 79th Academy Awards ceremony , honored the best films of 2006 and took place on February 25, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on ABC. Ellen DeGeneres hosted the ceremony for the first time. The producer was Laura Ziskin. The announcers were Don LaFontaine and Gina Tuttle.The nominees were... |
Best Director | Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... |
No |
| Best Editing | Douglas Crise Stephen Mirrione Stephen Mirrione Stephen Mirrione is an American film editor. He won an Academy Award for his editing of the film Traffic .-Life and career:... |
||
| Best Picture | |||
| Best Original Score | Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:... |
Yes | |
| Best Screenplay - Original | Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of... |
No | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza is a Mexican film and television actress and director. She has also been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Broadcast Film Critics Association and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also a veteran actress of Televisa telenovelas... |
||
| Best Supporting Actress | Rinko Kikuchi Rinko Kikuchi , born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories... |
||
| Austin Film Critics Austin Film Critics Association Awards 2006 The 2nd Austin Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film making in 2006.-Top 10 films:#United 93#The Departed#El laberinto del fauno #Brick#Children of Men... |
Best Supporting Actress | Rinko Kikuchi Rinko Kikuchi , born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories... |
Yes |
| BAFTA Film Awards | Best Cinematography | Rodrigo Prieto Rodrigo Prieto -Life and career:Prieto was born in Mexico City, Mexico. His grandfather was mayor of Mexico City and leader of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, but was later persecuted by the country's ruler because of political differences. The grandfather escaped with his family to Texas and then to Los... |
No |
| Best Director | Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... |
||
| Best Editing | Douglas Crise Stephen Mirrione Stephen Mirrione Stephen Mirrione is an American film editor. He won an Academy Award for his editing of the film Traffic .-Life and career:... |
||
| Best Film | |||
| Best Film Music | Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:... |
Yes | |
| Best Screenplay - Original | Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of... |
No | |
| Best Sound | |||
| Broadcast Film Critics Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2006 The 12th Annual Critics' Choice Awards were presented on 14 January 2007 by the Broadcast Film Critics Association to honor the finest achievements in 2006 filmmaking... |
Best Cast | No | |
| Best Composer | Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:... |
||
| Best Film | |||
| Best Soundtrack | |||
| Best Supporting Actress | Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza is a Mexican film and television actress and director. She has also been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Broadcast Film Critics Association and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also a veteran actress of Televisa telenovelas... |
||
| Best Supporting Actress | Rinko Kikuchi Rinko Kikuchi , born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories... |
||
| Best Writer | Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of... |
||
| Cannes Film Festival 2006 Cannes Film Festival The 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury.... |
Best Director Best Director Award (Cannes Film Festival) The Best Director Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.... |
Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... |
Yes |
| François Chalais Award (a Prize of the Ecumenical Jury) | |||
| Technical Grand Prize | Stephen Mirrione Stephen Mirrione Stephen Mirrione is an American film editor. He won an Academy Award for his editing of the film Traffic .-Life and career:... (for the editing) |
||
| Palme d'Or (Best Film) | No | ||
| César Awards | Best Foreign Film | Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... |
No |
| Chicago Film Critics Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2006 The 19th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, given by the CFCA on December 28, 2006 honored the best in film for 2006.-Best Actor:Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland*Leonardo DiCaprio – The Departed*Ryan Gosling – Half Nelson... |
Best Cinematography | Rodrigo Prieto Rodrigo Prieto -Life and career:Prieto was born in Mexico City, Mexico. His grandfather was mayor of Mexico City and leader of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, but was later persecuted by the country's ruler because of political differences. The grandfather escaped with his family to Texas and then to Los... |
No |
| Best Director | Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... |
||
| Best Film | |||
| Best Original Score | Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:... |
||
| Best Promising Performer | Rinko Kikuchi Rinko Kikuchi , born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories... |
||
| Best Screenplay - Original | Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of... |
||
| Best Supporting Actor | Brad Pitt Brad Pitt William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one... |
||
| Best Supporting Actress | Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza is a Mexican film and television actress and director. She has also been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Broadcast Film Critics Association and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also a veteran actress of Televisa telenovelas... |
||
| Best Supporting Actress | Rinko Kikuchi | Yes | |
| Directors Guild of America (DGA) Directors Guild of America Awards 2006 The 59th Directors Guild of America Awards, were given on 3 February 2007, honoring the best film and television directors in 2006.-Film:*Best Director - Motion Picture:**Martin Scorsese - The Departed*Best Director - Documentary Feature:... |
Outstanding Directorial Achievement | Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... |
No |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Director | Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... |
No |
| Best Film - Drama | Yes | ||
| Best Original Score | Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:... |
No | |
| Best Screenplay | Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of... |
||
| Best Supporting Actor | Brad Pitt Brad Pitt William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one... |
||
| Best Supporting Actress | Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza is a Mexican film and television actress and director. She has also been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Broadcast Film Critics Association and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also a veteran actress of Televisa telenovelas... |
||
| Best Supporting Actress | Rinko Kikuchi Rinko Kikuchi , born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories... |
||
| Image Awards | Outstanding Directing in a Film/TV Movie | Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... |
No |
| Motion Picture Sound Editors | Best Sound Editing for Music - Feature Film | No | |
| Best Sound Editing for Sound Effects and Foley - Foreign Film | |||
| National Board of Review National Board of Review Awards 2006 The 78th National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in film for 2006, were given on 6 December 2006.-Top 10 films:#Letters from Iwo Jima #Babel#Blood Diamond#The Departed... |
Best Breakthrough Actress | Rinko Kikuchi Rinko Kikuchi , born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories... |
Yes |
| Online Film Critics Online Film Critics Society Awards 2006 The 10th Online Film Critics Society Awards, honoring the best in film for 2006, were given on 8 January 2007.-Best Picture:United 93*Babel*Children of Men*The Departed*Pan's Labyrinth-Best Director:... |
Best Breakthrough Performance | Rinko Kikuchi | No |
| Best Cinematography | Rodrigo Prieto Rodrigo Prieto -Life and career:Prieto was born in Mexico City, Mexico. His grandfather was mayor of Mexico City and leader of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, but was later persecuted by the country's ruler because of political differences. The grandfather escaped with his family to Texas and then to Los... |
||
| Best Director | Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... |
||
| Best Editing | Douglas Crise Douglas Crise -Biography:Douglas Crise was born to Glenn Crise, a retired mail carrier, and Catherine, a homemaker. The middle child of the family, Crise grew up in Smithton, Pennsylvania. In 1979, Crise graduated from Yough High School and soon began to work as a meat cutter at Shop 'n Save in Mount Pleasant,... Stephen Mirrione Stephen Mirrione Stephen Mirrione is an American film editor. He won an Academy Award for his editing of the film Traffic .-Life and career:... |
||
| Best Film | |||
| Best Original Score | Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:... |
||
| Best Screenplay - Original | Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of... |
||
| Best Supporting Actress | Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza is a Mexican film and television actress and director. She has also been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Broadcast Film Critics Association and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also a veteran actress of Televisa telenovelas... |
||
| Best Supporting Actress | Rinko Kikuchi Rinko Kikuchi , born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories... |
||
| Producers Guild of America (PGA) Producers Guild of America Awards 2006 The 18th Producers Guild of America Awards, were given on January 20, 2007, honoring the best film and television producers of 2006.-Theatrical Picture: Little Miss Sunshine - Albert Berger, David T... |
Motion Picture Producer of the Year | Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... Steve Golin Steve Golin Steve Golin is the founder and CEO of Anonymous Content LLP, a multimedia development, production and talent management company and co-founder and former CEO of Propaganda Films.-Propaganda Films:... Jon Kilik |
No |
| San Diego Film Critics San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2006 The 11th San Diego Film Critics Awards, honoring the best in film for 2006, were given in 2006 by the San Diego Film Critics Society.Clint Eastwood's war drama Letters from Iwo Jima won the awards for Best Film and Best Director. Japanese actor Ken Takakura won the award for Best Actor for his role... |
Best Cast | No | |
| Best Score | Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:... |
||
| San Francisco Film Critics San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2006 The 5th San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in film for 2006, were given on 12 December 2006.-Winners:*Best Picture:**Little Children*Best Director:**Paul Greengrass - United 93... |
Best Supporting Actress | Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza is a Mexican film and television actress and director. She has also been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Broadcast Film Critics Association and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also a veteran actress of Televisa telenovelas... |
Yes |
| Sant Jordi Awards | Best Foreign Film | Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... |
Yes |
| Satellite Awards Satellite Awards 2006 The 11th Satellite Awards, honoring the best in film- and televisionmaking in 2006, were given on 18 December 2006.-Best Actor - Drama: Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland*Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond*Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson... |
Best Director | Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... |
No |
| Best Editing | Stephen Mirrione Stephen Mirrione Stephen Mirrione is an American film editor. He won an Academy Award for his editing of the film Traffic .-Life and career:... Douglas Crise Douglas Crise -Biography:Douglas Crise was born to Glenn Crise, a retired mail carrier, and Catherine, a homemaker. The middle child of the family, Crise grew up in Smithton, Pennsylvania. In 1979, Crise graduated from Yough High School and soon began to work as a meat cutter at Shop 'n Save in Mount Pleasant,... |
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| Best Film - Drama | |||
| Best Original Score | Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:... |
Yes | |
| Best Screenplay - Original | Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of... Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene... |
No | |
| Best Sound (Editing and Mixing) | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Brad Pitt Brad Pitt William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one... |
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| Best Supporting Actress | Rinko Kikuchi Rinko Kikuchi , born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories... |
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| Screen Actors Guild (SAG) | Best Cast | No | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza is a Mexican film and television actress and director. She has also been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Broadcast Film Critics Association and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also a veteran actress of Televisa telenovelas... |
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| Best Supporting Actress | Rinko Kikuchi Rinko Kikuchi , born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories... |
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| Writers Guild of America (WGA) Writers Guild of America Awards 2006 The 59th Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film and television writers of 2006.-Best Adapted Screenplay:The Departed - William Monahan... |
Best Screenplay - Original | Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of... |
No |
| César Awards 2007 César Awards 2007 The 2007 César Awards were the 32nd edition of the biggest annual film awards in France. The ceremony took place in the Théâtre du Châtelet on 24 February 2007; it was presented by Valérie Lemercier.-Winners and nominees:... |
Best Foreign Film | No | |
| Young Artist Award Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist... |
Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actor Age Ten or Younger | Nathan Gamble Nathan Gamble Nathan Gamble is an American child actor who made his feature film debut in Babel , for which he was nominated for a 2007 Young Artist Award.... |
No |
| Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actress Age Ten or Younger | Elle Fanning Elle Fanning Mary Elle Fanning , credited as Elle Fanning, is an American actress. She is the younger sister of actress Dakota Fanning and mainly known for her starring roles in Phoebe in Wonderland, Somewhere, Super 8 and We Bought a Zoo which will receive a theatrical release on December 23,... |
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- Top Ten Lists including:
- American Film Institute Awards 2006American Film Institute Awards 2006The AFI Awards 2006 honored the best 10 Movies and 10 Television Programs of the year.-Films:*Babel *Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan*The Devil Wears Prada...
- American Film Institute Awards 2006
Critical reception
This film polarized critics but earned a generally favorable 69% on Rotten Tomatoes. The top critics gave a slightly less favorable 64%. The critical aggregate website MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the film a score of 69 (out of 100) based on the reviews of 38 critics.